Sony Likely to Raise Annual Pay by 5% (News)

Tokyo, March 28 (Jiji Press)—Sony Corp. plans to raise employees' annual pay by around 5% in fiscal 2018, which starts in April, according to informed sources.

The Japanese electronics and entertainment giant plans to offer annual bonuses equivalent to 6.9 months' salary, a record high, and increase basic monthly salaries, the sources said.

Sony aims to secure highly skilled technicians through the pay hike, which also reflects strong earnings, they said. For the year through this month, the company expects to score a record group operating profit for the first time in 20 years.

Under Sony's salary system, the upper and lower limits on basic monthly salaries are set for each employee grade. This time, the company plans to raise both limits, by 6,000 yen for employees at ranks below section chiefs, for instance.

There will be no uniform pay increase as actual salaries are decided by merits evaluation. But the pay hike plan is expected to raise Sony's overall salaries.